Grundy Center Schools need space to accomplish the PreK-12 Mission

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–by Superintendent Schutz

Times have changed in Grundy Center in the past few years for fouryear- old learners. In the not-too –distant past families had to pay a private provider if they wanted their four- year-old to attend preschool. Today Grundy Center Preschool Students receive statefunded and state-audited Quality Preschool Program Standards (QPPS). Four-year-olds (4K) are now funded through the state funding formula just like all other K-12 students…although at a different rate commensurate with their length of programming time. This change makes the 4K mission an integral part of the entire Grundy Center Community School District mission…just like any other grade between K-12. Qualifying for state preschool funding has been a positive financial support for Grundy Center families. While the Grundy Center School District contracts with the Grundy Community Preschool and Childcare Center (GCP&CC) to provide preschool programming, the preschool mission still belongs to the school district. QPPS standards encourage schools to partner with community agencies to provide quality preschool programming…and Grundy Community Preschool has received numerous accolades from state auditors for its high-quality programming. Our students are indeed blessed to receive such engaging, high quality educational opportunities via this School-Community Preschool partnership. In fact, our program has such a quality reputation that we don’t have enough space for everyone who wants to come here. GCP&CC currently has a waiting list for preschool programs at the 3 and 4 year-old levels. We hate to turn students away…especially since these four year olds almost always continue to attend school here in Grundy Center for the next 13 years! Grundy Center Schools and GCP&CC are partnering with the City of Grundy Center to begin planning the future location of our preschool classes. The current location serving the preschool in the old (Upper) elementary school was built in 1939 and is becoming a major financial challenge to maintain. QPPS standards prohibit us from expanding classroom space in the existing building without cost-prohibitive renovation…so future planning is needed to address much-needed classroom space TODAY! (A special thank-you to the City of Grundy Center for managing the current upper-elementary building and making it available for its current tenants.) LET’S PLAN TO BUILD TODAY SO WE DON’T HAVE TO KEEP TURNING FUTURE SPARTANS